Fifth Third Bank

My local car dealership arranged financing my car through this bank… nowhere near my home in Wisconsin. It was not with this branch specifically. First, I contacted them to see how I could make additional principal payments online. I was told to go ahead and make payments, and then call them to move the money to principal. I’m doing these kinds of things at night, after hours, and I don’t want to have to remember to call them the next day. So my comment is: their website and system are not conducive to handle transactions efficiently. Next, I’ve tried calling them. Their phone number asks for a PIN number. I only have a loan with them, so I don’t have a PIN. Maneuvering their phone system to try to speak with someone is inefficient at best. Next, I moved my loan to a local credit union. I inadvertently forgot to cancel my automatic payment to 53. Now, trying to get that money back is dragging on and on. They have had my money for 13 calendar days, but I’m told I have to wait 10 business days to have them mail me a check. By the time they process my certified check refund, it will be 3 weeks. I have contacted them and they say there is no speeding up that process. Meanwhile, they hang onto my money for no apparent reason. Poor system. Poor customer service.

Is it just me, or does something about the slogan «the curious bank» make you think that ⁵⁄₃ has no idea what they’re doing?
It concerns me, because this is the most convenient bank to use in Cincinnati, and so I use it. It seems like they do a lot of things differently from other banks. I’m not sure if that’s a positive or a negative, but my experience has been that banks do things a certain way because it works… normally.
I can’t say that I’ve had any problems with the people at this particular Fifth Third, though I’ve had problems with other Fifth Third employees at other locations that haven’t fully disclosed all of the pertinent information about their products (including certain fees and the proper definition of some bank products — I was once told that a Fifth Third Visa Credit Card was merely «over-​draft protection», for instance).
CD rates here (and some other banks as well) are currently laughable. You’re better off spending your money on a new car or hiding it under the mattress or investing in the stock market, quite frankly.
I’m also annoyed that they don’t put the day’s date up in lobby, instead they put the date of the next bank business day (the day when your deposit will go into effect).
I can’t say Fifth Third is particularly bad, but I don’t think it is my first choice in financial services. My advice, if you are thinking about becoming a Fifth Third customer, is just to ask a lot of questions and make sure you know and fully understand what product you are getting.